The lawsuit argues that Florida’s sweeping merit-pay law unfairly resulted in many teachers’ evaluations being based on the test scores of students or subjects they did not teach. That violates the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit claims.

Seven teachers in Alachua, Escambia and Hernando county school districts are the plaintiffs, along with their local teacher unions. The education commissioner, the State Board of Education and the Alachua, Escambia and Hernando school boards are the defendants.